Court Notice Issued to Arya Rajendran and Sachin Dev in KSRTC Bus Obstruction Case

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate Court has issued notices to former Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran and MLA Sachin Dev in connection with the incident of obstructing a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus. This legal action follows a private complaint filed by KSRTC bus driver Yadu. The court has sought a response from both individuals after Yadu filed the complaint challenging their exclusion from the original charge sheet.

The charge sheet, prepared by the Cantonment Police, had previously omitted Arya Rajendran, Sachin Dev, and a female relative of Arya from the list of accused in the bus obstruction case. Instead, only Arya Rajendran’s brother, Aravind, was named as the sole accused. The police report claimed that no obstruction of official duty occurred during the incident. The charge sheet was initially submitted to the Thiruvananthapuram JFMC Court.

Against Aravind, only the charge of obstructing a vehicle was leveled, specifically for stopping the KSRTC bus on a zebra crossing and impeding its journey. Other serious charges, such as abusive language and obstruction of official duty, were conspicuously omitted from the police’s initial findings. The charge sheet suggested that Mayor Arya Rajendran and MLA Sachin Dev were merely acting in self-defense against alleged obscene gestures made by the KSRTC bus driver, Yadu.

Authorities, citing legal advice, argued that the defensive actions taken during the incident could not be classified as a crime. The incident in question took place on April 27. On that night, at Palayam, a KSRTC bus was reportedly obstructed by a private vehicle carrying the Mayor and her husband, which led to a heated argument with the bus driver.